Aloha all, I’ve been listening to Bob Marley’s classic and final anthem, Redemption Song, lately. Especially, these two lines:
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
None but ourselves can free our minds
(I almost chose this for Ego Rehab’s theme song, in fact, but the song is more about historical and political events…and I didn’t want to offend any pain bodies—lol!)
I’ve also been studying A Course in Miracles of late, and it speaks of how we’re living in a dream world of our own creation. Many spiritual teachers speak of this. It’s our ego-minds that project our world and all of its conflicts, which is what causes us suffering.
So, how do we emancipate our Selves—our higher Selves—from this often unhappy dream and rest in Peace now?
The Ego Rehab process starts with ego awareness. Once you’ve observed your ego and all the conditioned thoughts and emotions that are running your life, you can question them. That’s the third step in Ego Rehab: Question Thy Ego.
Adyashanti says if you can get down to your core belief and question that, everything else will collapse like a house of cards. Most, if not all, of people’s core beliefs are based upon the idea that they’re unworthy, not good enough, wrong, and/or deficient in some way. This comes from the ego’s core insufficiency—its core sense of lack. And that comes from the fact that the ego doesn’t exist! It’s just a thought phantom that’s trying to take you away from God/Source/Consciousness/Love/Peace and run your life.
Each of us is trapped in our own little ego “snow globe” bubble, which can be a pretty traumatic place, depending on the strength and flavor of your ego/pain-body and its corresponding illusions. All these little snow globes seem to be separate from each other, but they’re actually all floating in a beautiful, ever-loving benevolent eternal sea of Peace. If we can see through the snow globe, it will dissolve and we can rest in Peace! (Why wait until we’re dead!)
Awakening is just a shift in perspective, says Adyashanti. All the walls are in our mind. Bob Marley seemed to agree.
Then why does it feel so hard to break out of our mind’s walls? Break out of the snow globe? Because we’re in resistance and we’re afraid of change. We’re afraid of that true freedom and Peace! Actually, it’s our ego that’s afraid. It’s afraid of losing control—the goals of the ego are to prove its existence (mainly by growing its self image) and maintain control. It maintains control mainly by keeping you distracted with useless thinking. If you rest in Peace, not only will the ego lose control, but it will lose its identity/existence, because it will dissolve.
Everything false will dissolve eventually. That’s the core message of A Course in Miracles:
Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.Herein lies the peace of God.
Anything that can die or dissolve is not real. According to this logic, your thoughts aren’t real, and neither is your body or your world—your little snow globe. It’s all a projection of your ego-mind. The only thing that’s real is Source/God/Love/Existence/Consciousness/I am.
Emancipating your Self (your connection to Source/God/Love/Existence/Consciousness/I am) all comes back to dissolving/transcending your ego. Being in a state of resistance is one of Adyashanti’s definitions of ego, by the way. Clinging to beliefs and forcing things, like insisting on a certain outcome, are forms of resistance.
I feel my ego trying to hold onto control when things don’t work out the way I want them too. She gets upset, she starts talking negative in my head. Then I remember all is unfolding for my highest good. I don’t need to force anything. I can accept and surrender and rest in the Peace of Existence. I can let go and let God.
If you have a strong-willed ego, surrendering will be hard. Affirmations can help cultivate Trust and open the door. Try one like:
“I trust in the divine benevolent Universe.” (or God or whatever transcendent word resonates with you.)
or
“I trust that everything is working out for my highest good and that of all beings.”
The A Course in Miracles lesson I got for today, lesson 135–“If I defend myself I am attacked”, would be a great one for strong-willed egos who don’t trust in the benevolence of the Universe.
It’s your work. No one can do it for you and you have to find what works for you. I’ll have more specific strategy suggestions for different types of egos later on.
Divine Peace and Blessings! ✌️🕊️🙏🤙🫶
